TKTK Sessions: Field Trip

FT: Well, I used to play for a bunch of bands back home, in L.A. And then I came here to go to school and I wasn’t in a band, so there was a big void in my existence. So I started one with some friends. And yeah, it was pretty quick and it got off to a really quick, fun start. It’s been a lot of fun playing out here so far.

WSN: What would you say your influences are? What bands inspire your sound?

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FT: That’s a big question. I think that’s a very innately exciting thing about making music right now, is that if you want to be new it’s really, really from all over the place. So I listen to a lot of music, and I think what I make is a sum of a lot of very disparate influences. And obviously some are more prevalent than others. You can hear the stuff I listen to most, which is like a lot of old psych rock, just rock and pop music in general. I really like jazz and hip hop and classical, all sorts of stuff.

WSN: What are your current and future plans? Are you guys recording?

FT: Yeah, I’m finishing up our first album. We released an EP and another kinda EP. It was really just, I was having fun — made a little tape, I wouldn’t even call it an EP. But I’m working on, like, an album album right now, which is really exciting. And we’re playing a lot, we’re going on our first little tour. It’s very small.

WSN: You’re going to South by Southwest, right?

FT: Yeah we’re going to South by, so we’re playing in Philly and hopefully New Orleans along the way, which will be fun.

WSN: What would your dream tour be? Who would you want to tour with?

FT: What about like a world tour of all stadiums, and if the city has an ancient stadium, like if you listen to Pink Floyd’s “Live at Pompeii.” If they have like an ancient stadium, it’s in the rider [tour contract] that we have to play there. Pink Floyd, but they’re not all dead and stuff. I mean, at that rate I could just say every band ever like the Beatles, Neu! and Can. Wow, that would be a cool bill, I think. Let’s cap it at that. It might get a little too weird after that.

WSN: What about a current band?

FT: I could say a bunch of really awesome current bands that are doing super well that would be amazing to tour with. But I feel like that’s not as fun. I should say a band that’s more rootsy. But then it’s like so real, what if they saw it and were like, “Oh, weird bro, you’re like crushing on me.” I think it’d be cool to tour with a band like Whitney. I want to tour with smaller bands that are killing it low-key. I think that would be a really fun tour, and that’s a little more accessible of a dream. I should be careful what I wish for because I’ve heard some horror stories about getting to go on tour with the coolest band ever. They’re your favorite band but then their budget far exceeds yours, so you’re in a van and they’re flying to city after city, day after day. So you’re chasing them and stuff. So take it little by little. I want to tour with a really good band like Whitney or Foxygen or Sunflower Bean or something like that.

WSN: Do you have any upcoming shows in the area?

FT: Yes, we’re having a really fun party in Bushwick the night before we leave for South by. It’s at this place called the Bushwick Public House. It’s got a cool upstairs and basement area. We’re going to be spinning records and having a lot of friends playing, it’s going to be really fun. That’s 3/11, so we’ll be spinning a lot of 311 if you like that band.